After ‘agroterror’ fungus is seized in Detroit, lawmaker says Michigan has best plan to blunt CCP influence

PARTICULAR After a dangerous fungus was intercepted in Detroit Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall spoke out to Fox News Digital about the legislature's efforts to blunt Chinese influence and espionage The fungus Fusarium graminearum is considered capable of agroterrorism and was allegedly smuggled into the country by two Chinese nationals studying at the University of Michigan Hall R-Kalamazoo announced he and colleagues have sounded the alarm for months about Beijing s efforts and that the episode shows Michigan and other states need to be vigilant and prepared As speaker I led our Foreign Influence Protection package through the State House to block CCP operatives from buying Michigan farmland infiltrating our universities and accessing our majority sensitive facts he explained CHINESE OFFICIAL STATES NO KNOWLEDGE OF FUNGUS SITUATION SAYS CHINA REQUIRES CITIZENS ABIDE BY LOCAL LAWS Our plan would have tackled this head-on and prevented Chinese executive interference with our food supply and our universities He called the bill package the strongest collection of protections against CCP interference nationwide but commented it is being held up by Senate Democrats and Gov Gretchen Whitmer Requests for comment from Whitmer and Senate President Pro Tempore Jeremy Moss D-Bloomfield were not straightaway returned Their inaction means our farmland our military bases and our universities are still at vulnerability Hall lamented while praising President Donald Trump for taking action to protect U S land and people from Chinese schemes Too numerous professors and administrators have let Beijing use our campuses as pawns We will expose every CCP operation root out every vulnerability and mobilize every state asset to secure Michigan farmland universities and beyond While a Chinese embassy official claimed earlier this week to have no knowledge of the event involving two Chinese students allegedly attempting to bring a fungus to the University of Michigan experts commented the pathogen was capable of causing billions in damage to U S grain supplies PATEL CHINESE NATIONALS CHARGED WITH SMUGGLING 'KNOWN AGROTERRORISM AGENT' INTO US IS A 'DIRECT THREAT'The matter drew particular parallels to the coronavirus pandemic which sparked global debate over whether a viral pathogen may have emerged from a lab and infected the world A Michigan House Republican Communications Office official revealed too countless federal and state oversight bodies can be infiltrated by CCP sympathizers and they have allowed foreign agents to run rampant on college campuses with CCP-backed research grants on dangerous things like Fusarium graminearum While state bureaucrats like Arizona Gov Katie Hobbs have vetoed attempts to block Chinese-linked land purchases Michigan House leaders have mentioned precaution breaches like the Fusarium graminearum episode prove the issue cannot go unchecked CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPRepublicans similarly criticized Whitmer for touting corporate subsidy deals with Chinese EV battery companies and a proposed Gotion bus plant in Big Rapids Michigan In House Chinese Communist Party Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar also a Michigan Republican commented he uncovered indisputable evidence that Gotion High Tech was connected to supply chains involving forced labor in China The American people expect companies in the U S to avoid all involvement with the Chinese Communist Party s campaign of genocide Moolenaar explained The company reportedly tied to both China and German-owned Volkswagen denied the committee s findings calling them baseless and absolutely false In October five Chinese nationals studying in the Great Lakes State in partnership with a Chinese school were charged with espionage for what was an alleged spying operation outside Michigan National Guard Camp Grayling A Michigan House source declared the package would also block schools from accepting foreign grants if determined to be promoting any anti-American agenda and strip foreign data-mining apps from regime devices through provisions from Reps Rachelle Smit R-Allegan Nancy Jenkins-Arno R-Lenawee and William Bruck R-Erie Michigan lawmakers are also trying to address another perceived threat from China the use of drones and other equipment linked to Chinese companies that are being employed by certain law enforcement agencies and municipal governments